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BETHESDA, Md. — Tiger Woods still doesn’t know when he’ll return. For a while, he didn’t know if he’d return at all.

Woods said Monday his back injury became so debilitating this year that it caused him to doubt his ability to play golf again.

“Forget about playing golf at the highest level. I couldn’t get out of bed,” Woods said. “I was certainly doubtful at that point. What’s it going to feel like? Am I going to be pain free? Am I going to be able to actually do this again, where I can get out of bed and go out there and play with my kids and play golf? All those things were up in the air.”

Woods said the doubt was erased after microdiscectomy surgery March 31. He said the procedure, which relieved pain from a pinched nerve, provided immediate relief, although he said there’s still “no timetable” for his return to golf — or even for taking a full swing. As of now, he remains limited to chipping and putting.

“It’s not going not be up to me whether I play or not, it’s going to be up to my docs,” Woods said. “Obviously, I want to play now.”

Speaking at Congressional Country Club in his role as host of next month’s Quicken Loans National, Woods even joked that he wished he could join reporters on the course for their media day rounds — “even though I don’t like to play with you guys.”

But he offered no hint that he might be anything more than an onlooker for the Quicken Loans tournament on June 26-29 — or at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst two weeks earlier. He’s already missed the Masters for the first time.